This invention relates generally to servers, such as database servers and other types of servers, and more particularly to the configuration of such servers.
Computer servers have become a mainstay in information technology (IT) environments. Generally, a server is a computer that is shared by multiple users. Servers can include file servers, for storing the data files of multiple users, database servers, for storing databases accessible by multiple users, web servers, for storing web pages accessible by multiple users over the Internet, as well as other types of servers. Large organizations may have tens, hundreds, or even more servers in their IT environments.
For usability, performance, security, and other reasons, servers must usually be appropriately configured prior to their first use, and reconfigured as the environments in which they operate change, and as they are updated with new hardware and/or software. Network administrators are typically expected to configure and otherwise maintain servers under their responsibility. As server technology has grown increasingly complex, the number of different configuration parameters that administrators are expected to track has correspondingly increased in size and complexity.
However, this increase in the size and complexity of server configuration parameters is reaching, if not having reached already, the point where it may be nearly impossible for a single or small group of network administrators to properly track such parameters. In response, automatic server configuration utilities are becoming more commonplace. These utilities are usually in the form of wizards, which are instructional help utilities that guide the administrators through the steps necessary to properly accomplish server configuration.
However, for both hardware and software server manufacturers, the development of such utilities can be burdensome. Each wizard utility is typically specific to a given type of server, either from a hardware or a software perspective. Changes in the hardware or software of the server may thus necessitate a large programming effort to rework the utility. The end result may be that the manufacturers have to dedicate a large amount of resources to create such utilities, or decrease the number of server configuration parameters that can be set using such utilities.
For these described reasons, as well as other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.